Salmon Street Springs Fountain

It’s a great place to go on a hot day. Never too crowded to enjoy. Fun to just relax and enjoy the view.

This is a nice waterfall at the east end of Salmon street downtown. It has several patterns of water so its looks change. On hot days it is very popular with people playing. It is always good for pics, People playing in the water, the fountain with the World Trade Center in the background etc. In all a nice fountain in a great park.

Why don’t more people go here for picnic lunches? Maybe because there aren’t many good places with takeout but bring your own. I work a few blocks away and am astounded by the number of people who don’t take advantage of this area and nearby to enjoy lunch.

Great free summer activity for kiddos. Most of the kids here were pretty young but I took a group of high school girls and they had a ton of fun too.
Make a day of it and make it a physical outing by starting at OMSI, walk the Eastside Esplanade, cross the Steel bridge, walk S. on the W. side waterfront path (total walking time about 45 minutes) and you can also stop along the way to cool off in the smaller fountains near where Saturday Market sets up.

The Salmon Street Springs Fountain is located to the north of the Hawthorne Bridge. In the winter months the fountain is sometimes turned off, but the summer months it is usually on for joggers and bicyclists of Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park to cool down. In the hot summer months you can see children and dogs playing in the fountain and the adults standing to the side of the fountain waiting for a breeze for the water from the fountain to mist onto their faces. It definitely gets crowded during festival days of the warm months as well.
The fountain consists of almost 200 water jets and has three different water show combinations. The names of the water shows are misters, bollards, and wedding cake. Try to guess which one is which! Sit around and enjoy the water show or play in the water to get some relief from the sun!

Just another example of why Portland is awesome– an unnatural feature that makes for a natural gathering place. I’ve seen ‘spraygrounds’ at neighborhood parks before, but nothing like this! Its fun to watch the fountain itself, the people playing in the fountain, the people hanging out around the fountain… Also a great way to cool off on a hot day, and it’s free for all!

Nice place to go on a hot Portland day. Lots of kids and families running around. Kids playing in the water, parents sitting on the benches trying to stay in the shade. Riverfront park right next door. Events going on all around you. And downtown right there next to ya. There’s a bike rental/​snack stand with decent prices on both.

Walking down Waterfront Park armed with a hot cup of coffee and a hooded jacket for the first rainy fall day of the year my mind drifted away from my assignment at hand towards methods of exploration. How, I questioned, in city I’ve all but grown up in do I experience it again for the first time? The plausible method, and possibly the most fun, would be to complete a dérive. This idea of the experiential drifting through the site in order to understand it beyond the preconceived design is a fascinating opportunity to find out how successful this park ‘really’ is.
Before I knew it, I found myself standing in the trodden grass, muddy with footprints after the morning rain. I walked down the wet cement sidewalk to the fountain at Salmon Street, a trigger that awakes the senses from the somewhat monotonous path flanked by river and trees. The sound of water rushing from the fountain made me look out at the Willamette, as if the river’s flow was the audible source. I ignored the small building on the edge of the park, save for finding a trash can there to throw away my empty cup.
I headed down the steps/​seats of the small gathering theater. Looking back at the city I noticed how the whole area was set up on an axis that framed downtown. Yet the lower elevation here made me realize how small the area made me feel. With a major river at my back and a towering downtown façade at my front, I felt vulnerable; in either direction I could be swallowed whole.
Everything here seems off balance. While in the design world the center is place of gathering, there’s a general feeling of no-​mans land at the center here. The large concrete area was vacant because there was no reason to be there… no destination point that is. Rather, the river’s edge at which I stood felt like I was at least somewhat connected to not only the park, but the people who use it too. While a dérive is a interesting adventure, it can be a lonely one as well. By having an association with other users in this busy spot, I felt like I actually belonged.
This fountain has become an iconic hub in Portland’s downtown but I think many of us have a reason beyond the aesthetic in why this part of Waterfront Park sits with us. It is ultimately a spot where usage is dictated by self driven reason, and for me at least, that is a heightened awareness to the river in which our city is so fortunately connected.

Sunday morning at Salmon Street Fountain…
A guy dressed as Sasquatch in a bikini humping the fountain surrounded by perplexed tourists and a few guys who probably slept on the benches.
And somehow this was totally typical of my experiences at the fountain. Keep Portland Weird — alrighty then!

We were taking a stroll through the Waterfront Park on a weekend when we came across this fountain. Not quite the type that you would find made of marble or stone with a statue in the middle. Instead, it’s made up of these cement blocks with water jets. It’s basically on the sidewalk. hey form a circle and converge in the middle.
On a hot summer day, it’s understandable why anyone walking by would want to just run right in. It’s likely that I never will, as it’s probably recycled water. Still, looks like a lot of fun.
There’s a sign on one side, comparing the Salmon Street Springs to Old Faithful and the force of a fire hose.